Access Uganda Tours Ltd

Why Uganda?

Uganda has more bird species per square kilometer than any other country in Africa. Uganda is roughly the same size as the UK, but can boast a national list of 1013 species! This figure represents more than half the bird species that can be found on the whole continent.  The key to Uganda's diversity is its variety of habitats with arid semi-dessert, rich savannahs, lowland and montane rainforests, vast wetlands, volcanoes and an Afro-alpine zone covering altitudes from 650 to 5109m.  For a 10-14 day trip in Uganda an Avid Birder or Twitcher could probably see in the range of 4-500 species and have had the experience of birding in some of the most exciting and beautiful scenery in Africa.

 

Our Forests

Situated on the equator Uganda has an area contiguous with the Great Tropical Rainforest on its Western border. Subsequently there are a number of west and central African bird species occurring in Uganda that are not found elsewhere in East Africa.

There are more than 700 forest reserves in Uganda. One particular region is the Albertine Rift, which has 49 species of birds confined to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo. Of these Albertine Rift Endemic, Uganda has 25, mostly confined to the forests of Mgahinga and Bwindi National Parks in the Southwest.

 

Our Wetlands

Uganda has 33,000 square kilometers of wetland. 210 species from the Shoebill and African Skimmer to the endemic Fox's Weaver.
4 Papyrus endemics; Papyrus Gonolek, Papyrus Canary, White-winged Warbler and Papyrus Yellow Warbler.
A White-winged Black Tern roost of 2-3 million birds in the Entebbe area.

 

The Savannahs

From the remote, semi-dessert, dry thorn-scrub region of Karamoja in the Northeast, to the richer fertile savannahs of the western Rift valley.
Queen Elizabeth National Park has a bird list of 602 species the highest for any protected area in Africa.
Some of the dry thorn-scrub birds: Swallow-tailed Kite, Pygmy Falcon, Pygmy Sunbird, Fox Kestrel, Quail Plover, Black-headed Plover Liechtenstein’s, Four-banded Sandgrouse, Kori and Black-bellied Bustards, White-crested Turaco, White-bellied Go-away-bird, Piapiac, Bristle-crowned Starling, Abyssinian Roller, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Karamoja Apalis, Yellow-billed Shrike, Brown-rumped Bunting

 

Kampala and Entebbe

Over 550 species for the region.
A suburban garden list of 206 species.
212 species listed in 24hrs by 3 people.
One of the largest urban breeding colonies of Marabou Storks.
Great Blue and Ross's Turaco are common city birds.
Within The Kampala region are two major forest reserves less than an hour’s drive from the city which hold a variety of very special birds including; Nahan's Francolin, Cassin's Hawk-Eagle, Crowned Eagle Blue-breasted and White-bellied Kingfishers, Blue-throated Roller, Purple-throated Cuckoo-shrike, Tit-Hylia, Brown Twinspot, Grey-rumped swallow, Emerald, Red-chested and Black Cuckoos, Weyns's Weaver.
Some common urban birds: African Open-billed Stork, Grey Crowned Crane, Wahlberg's Eagle, Palm-nut Vulture, Black-and-White Casqued, Crowned, and Pied Hornbills, Bat Hawk, Scoops-Owl, African Grey and Brown Parrots, Red-faced Lovebird, Black-headed Gonolek.
Uganda's most commonly sought after Birds: Shoebill Stock, African Green Broadbill, Green-breasted Pitta, Nahan's Francolin, Brown-chested Plover, Karamoja Apalis, Black Bee-eater, Ruwenzori Turaco, Red-fronted Antpecker, Puvel's Illadopsis, Pel's Fishing-Owl

 

Bird Migration

Uganda is situated in a major flyway between the Albertine and Great rift Valleys.
Of Uganda's 1013 species, 137 are Palearctic migrants.
At times of peak spring passage: Waders congregate at all the muddy lagoons around the Entebbe peninsular with mixed flocks of thousands of birds. Each October, thousands of Steppe Buzzards and migrant Black Kites head south with a smaller numbers of Honey Buzzard, Steppe and Booted Eagles Flocks of European Hobbies moving through join their African counterparts to feed at dusk in flocks of up to 30 or more around the hills of Kampala. Barn Swallow and Sand martins congregate in the millions feeding on the even larger swarms of Lake Flies. The Yellow Wagtail over winters with an estimated 1 million birds roosting in the reed beds along the Kazinga Channel in Queen Elizabeth National Park.